WoW Insider http://wow.joystiq.com WoW Insider http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogobig.gif WoW Insider http://wow.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2015 AOL, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. View our terms of service here: http://legal.aol.com/terms-of-service/full-terms/ Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/ <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Have you ever taken time off from WoW?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/27/breakfast-topic-have-you-ever-taken-time-off-from-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/27/breakfast-topic-have-you-ever-taken-time-off-from-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/27/breakfast-topic-have-you-ever-taken-time-off-from-wow/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Sometimes people need a break from Azeroth. There are various reasons for it -- real-life issues, lack of new content, boredom, another game you have to try -- but despite the reasons, most of the time people come back. Something about the world or the people in it draws players back to see what is new since the last time they logged in. Sometimes it almost seems that WoW has a pull that is hard to escape, and you find yourself launching the game and putting in your account and password without even realizing you are doing it.

I have never taken a long break from WoW, and I have played since launch. I have taken a week or two off from time to time, but never any of these extended multiple month or year breaks from the game. Perhaps it is being a pretty serious raider that makes me log in nearly every day. Perhaps it is my penchant for being an achievement junkie or the fact I am an altaholic. But for some reason, I cannot seem to avoid the game for any major length of time. My latest break was right before Cataclysm launched, in which I caught up on some other great video games I missed -- but even then, I logged on to check mail and the AH and chat with some friends. And that is what I realized keeps me coming back: the people in my guild and on my friends list; it isn't the raids or the chance at shiny purples, even though I do enjoy that aspect.

So have you taken time off from WoW? How long was your break? What brought you back?

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Breakfast Topic: Have you ever taken time off from WoW? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> breakfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionhiatustime-offworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How are you managing your alts?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/14/breakfast-topic-how-are-you-managing-your-alts/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/14/breakfast-topic-how-are-you-managing-your-alts/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/04/14/breakfast-topic-how-are-you-managing-your-alts/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

It is hard to focus entirely on a single character in WoW. Unless a person can PvP, raid, or dungeon crawl all the time or has an extremely limited play schedule, most players create an alt or two or 10. Wrath made alts easy -- hit 80, run a few dungeons, full epic gear in a day. Cataclysm may have eased the leveling process, but gearing and rep grinding on a single character is much slower than in Wrath. Also, there are not a lot of successful PUG raids to get an alt into. Most guilds haven't even killed all the content yet in normal, let alone in heroic. So the question remains: How to deal with alts?

I had seven 80s in Wrath, and all of them had at least full 251 gear before Cataclysm launched; heck, I had the ICC drakes on two different characters. Yet in Cataclysm, I find myself leveling them much more slowly and in fact didn't touch any until I had gotten my main through heroics until the point that justice points became useless and I had been exalted with every Cataclysm reputation except my guild. Even then, I concentrated on a single alt primarily hitting 85, then getting some gear.

But I found something interesting: Merely doing cooking and fishing dailies every day in Stormwind, my other alts are gaining experience much faster than I thought they would. I hit 81 on a few alts without ever having left Stormwind, except for the initial trips out to Hyjal and Vashj'ir in order to open the portals. One the other hand, I have a friend who leveled all his toons to 85 before deciding which one he was going to focus on.

So how are you dealing with your alts in Cataclysm? Are you leveling them all or letting some sit? Did you change your main?

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Breakfast Topic: How are you managing your alts? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> altsfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Thu, 14 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Which Cataclysm heroic do you dread seeing on your loading screen?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/22/breakfast-topic-which-cataclysm-heroic-do-you-dread-seeing-on-y/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/22/breakfast-topic-which-cataclysm-heroic-do-you-dread-seeing-on-y/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/22/breakfast-topic-which-cataclysm-heroic-do-you-dread-seeing-on-y/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Since every instance in Cataclysm has its own load screen, players know where they are going before they ever set foot in the instance. Some instances are harder than others. Some have awful trash. Some have boss fights that require lots of moving, and some have tons of ambient group damage. Depending on your role, which instance you want to see come up as your random probably changes. Some have that one piece of gear you need or that achievement you really would love to get; others make you feel disheartened as soon as the loading screen pops up.

I currently have two 85s; my main is a tank, and my alt is a hunter. While tanking anything but Stonecore, I am fairly happy. I hate the initial few pulls in Stonecore with Milhouse Manastorm and those damn guys that turn into rock elementals and have that disgusting AoE so much, and the trash pulls with the sentries later on also suck. My tank just runs the one heroic a day for the points so I can get my last piece of tier for feral and start picking up some of the moonkin off-spec pieces, so if I get Vortex Pinnacle every day and just blow through it, all the better.

On the other hand, with my hunter, every time I see The Deadmines I am actually happy. I still need the axe and bracers. Also, my hunter hasn't been 85 very long, so justice points are still useful to me.

What heroics do you hate to see pop up? What makes you hate this particular instance? Which are you actually happy to see?

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Breakfast Topic: Which Cataclysm heroic do you dread seeing on your loading screen? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionheroicheroicsworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Tue, 22 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How hard are you working on guild achievements?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/10/breakfast-topic-how-hard-are-you-working-on-guild-achievements/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/10/breakfast-topic-how-hard-are-you-working-on-guild-achievements/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/03/10/breakfast-topic-how-hard-are-you-working-on-guild-achievements/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

The guild leveling system is both interesting and annoying at times. There are some fun and interesting guild perks, as well as some obscure ones. Whether fiercely gathering, fishing, cooking and crafting in an attempt to reach the guild totals, or running around killing every critter in sight, there is no shortage of work to be done to accomplish all the guild achievements and access all the guild perks. Some people dive headlong into them, and others just take care of their own toons -- and whatever comes is just a bonus.

The idea of having every race/class combo at 85 and at least honored with the guild to get an extra bank tab is frustrating. Seriously, how many dwarf mages have you seen running around? On top of that, the caps for guild rep each week leaving you just a few points shy of that next rep level can be disheartening. I have leveled a human hunter to 85 and am currently working on a dwarf rogue and gnome priest. Other guildies race-changed to worgen or the new race/class options, and we are down to being only a few short.

I have taken my main out and killed hundreds of critters, fished in endless numbers of pools, and between my alts, I skin, herb, and mine. My guild as a whole took the fishing to get the fish feast recipe as a major endeavor, as well as making flasks for the cauldron recipes, having everyone get their flasks made by elixir-specced guild members. My guild certainly teams up to push achievements hard.

So how hard are you working toward the guild achievements? Which ones are you focusing on the most? Is your guild teaming up to push out the achievements? Or are you busy being a lone ranger?

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Breakfast Topic: How hard are you working on guild achievements? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionguild-achievementsworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Do you test patches on the PTR?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/27/breakfast-topic-do-you-test-patches-on-the-ptr/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/27/breakfast-topic-do-you-test-patches-on-the-ptr/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/27/breakfast-topic-do-you-test-patches-on-the-ptr/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Blizzard puts up public test realms (PTRs) for testing new content all the time. At times the PTRs are unplayable, either due to bugs or overcrowding. At times they are ridiculous because of the economy, because people transfer all the gold on their account to a single character before copying them. Some major guilds go whenever there is new raid content to practice it on the PTR, so they can get their world firsts whenever the content does go live. Some people seem to go just to stand around and complain about the changes yet not actually test anything. However, all the problems aside, the PTRs are the only way to experience the new content or class changes prior to live.

I tend to copy over to the PTR whenever there is a new raid instance or a major revamp of my class. Having been in the betas for the last couple of expansions, I tend to file lots of bug reports and hope that at least some of my issues are addressed. I have gotten frustrated with people attempting to make a ton of gold in the test realms because they do not seem to grasp the fact that the money doesn't come with them to live. Whatever is done on the test realm stays there and dies there.

The PTR is there for testing, and testing requires people to be able to have access to the new material. Because a lot of people don't actually test on the PTRs, we tend to have several mini-patches in order to fix bugs with a major patch. So actually use the PTR for testing, since it will only help cut out some bugs for when it goes live.

Do you actually use the PTRs? Do you participate in sending in bug reports? Are you one of these people who copy over all your gold and charge exorbitant AH prices on the PTR?

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Breakfast Topic: Do you test patches on the PTR? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionPTRpublic-test-realmtest-realmtestingworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Sun, 27 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Do you save stuff for nostalgic reasons?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/05/breakfast-topic-do-you-save-stuff-for-nostalgic-reasons/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/05/breakfast-topic-do-you-save-stuff-for-nostalgic-reasons/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/05/breakfast-topic-do-you-save-stuff-for-nostalgic-reasons/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Nostalgia is a funny thing; it often lets us remember only the good and forget the bad. We look back with rose-colored glasses on the past, thinking how awesome it was. In real life, people hang on to odd souvenirs as memory triggers, and sometimes it is the same in game. There are old drops that took us a long time to get or signified a first kill of a boss in a previous expansion, things we just cannot seem to vendor or throw away because it feels like cheating on the memory. So we hold on to these items, allowing them to clog up bank slots so that whenever we go digging through them for an obscure item we currently need, we get that pleasant flashback.

For the longest time, I was a borderline hoarder of nostalgic items. I had my full Stormrage set in the bank from vanilla, my tier 6 and my SSC trash staff from BC, and a few other random pieces, even including a Wildheart helm. I used them to not only remember the old raids and guilds, but friends who left WoW or switched factions or servers. However, it would be a quick, wistful moment -- then I would grab whatever I needed and close my bank back up.

The trouble was, the amount of items and the randomness in which they were fit into my bank created chaos, and as I was collecting tabards for my 25 tabard achievement and gear sets for achievements, I simply ran out of room. So I purged my bank, selling any and everything with a cash value. It was a little tough, but I moved on.

Do you have items in your bank purely for nostalgic reasons? If so, what items did you keep and why? Have you ever had to purge your bank when it began to fill up?

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Breakfast Topic: Do you save stuff for nostalgic reasons? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 05 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> bankfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionmemorabiliamemoriesnostalgiaworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Sat, 05 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Do you actually enjoy PUGs?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/30/breakfast-topic-do-you-actually-enjoy-pugs/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/30/breakfast-topic-do-you-actually-enjoy-pugs/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/30/breakfast-topic-do-you-actually-enjoy-pugs/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

We have all heard a friend or a guild member share a PUG horror story. Most of us even have one or two of our own. Prior to Wrath of the Lich King, WoW was not very PUG-friendly. There was no random dungeon tool, trash was not the AoE-fest it was in Wrath, raids didn't have normal and heroic modes, there wasn't a lot of 10-player content -- the list goes on and on. However, unless you have had a truly sheltered existence in WoW, you have joined a PUG. Surprisingly enough, sometimes PUGs can even be fun and rewarding.

I have my fair share of PUG horror stories, but I have had a couple of great moments in PUGs. In BC, I joined a PUG Mag's Lair and ended up meeting members of a new raiding guild I got invited to after I saved the raid from wiping. I met numerous friends while tanking dungeons, both in the leveling process and heroics. I even started using the random dungeon tool again since 4.03 so I could get exalted with Gilneas prior to the Cata launch. With some of the AoE tanking nerfs and the tanking changes, I was actually enjoying tanking heroics wearing complete DPS gear. I even did a couple of successful PUG achievement runs to try and finish off a few remaining things, so I could focus entirely on new content. Most importantly, I was having fun while pugging.

Do you have good PUG stories? Do you actually like or even prefer to PUG? Or do you avoid PUGs like the plague?

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Breakfast Topic: Do you actually enjoy PUGs? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 30 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> dungeon-finderfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionpickup-groupspugpugsworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Sun, 30 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What mods could you not live without?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/28/breakfast-topic-what-mods-could-you-not-live-without/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/28/breakfast-topic-what-mods-could-you-not-live-without/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/28/breakfast-topic-what-mods-could-you-not-live-without/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Some people love their mods, downloading every single new thing that comes across the pages of Curse or any of the other addon sites. Others are very minimalist, using only what they need to function for raiding or PvP. And yet still others try and completely avoid mods altogether. The last group is clearly the minority; the mod community is a huge part of WoW, and mods have become such a common part of the game that some people forget what the default UI looks like.

Throughout the game, Blizzard has seemingly had a love/hate relationship with the mod community. Some of the mods it felt were so functional and helpful that it absorbed some of their functionality into the default UI; the raid frames are now similar to Grid, your map lights up with objectives and arrows like Quest Helper. Others Blizzard felt were overpowered and changed the game in order to break them, such as the original, one-button Decursive from vanilla WoW, and recently, AVR.

When I was in the recent beta, Blizzard turned off the option for any mods for a while, and the game was a flood of QQ from people who basically claimed they couldn't play with the default UI and without their necessary mods. Personally always running mod-light, I adapted quickly to the mod-free play, and it even led me to dropping a few things from live, such as my damage meter and chat mod. I have found the game functions fairly well without mods, but I do still require my raid warnings, threat meter, and my guild's loot mod.

What mods can you not function without? Has Blizzard ever changed the game to make a mod you felt like you needed no longer work? How long did it take you to adapt to playing without the mod again? Or are you one of the few who refuses to use mods at all?

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Breakfast Topic: What mods could you not live without? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> add-onsaddonsdefault-uifacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionmodsuiworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What do other players do that really annoys you?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/25/breakfast-topic-what-do-other-players-do-that-really-annoys-you/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/25/breakfast-topic-what-do-other-players-do-that-really-annoys-you/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/25/breakfast-topic-what-do-other-players-do-that-really-annoys-you/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

WoW is a game of interaction. If you want to do any dungeons, serious PvP, or tough quests, you have to work with other players. Also like the real world, occasionally we meet other people we like, some we instantly click with, some who grow on us over time, and some people who just annoy the heck out of us. Sometimes it is in-game actions we find distasteful; sometimes it is how they talk to other players or any other variety of actions that hits a nerve. With some of these people, we have to bury our dislike because they are in our guilds, and we just do an if they don't bother me, I won't bother them approach. Others, we can avoid entirely and make use of the wonderful /ignore feature.

One of my biggest pet peeves is ganking. Killing someone who is 20 or 30 levels lower than you isn't honorable. It doesn't make you cool -- it is basically a grown man beating up a toddler. The worst part of it is that these same players tend to run and hide when someone their own level comes out to defend the noobs. This is a cowardly act. Another issue I have is people who use Xbox Live talk when they are frustrated -- they immediately devolve into racist, homophobic, and just awful and often nonsensical comments. My final pet peeve is people who mispronounce words in Vent but say them over and over as if it was on their word-of-the-day calender, pronouncing melee "mealie, mealie" and using it as if it were their new favorite word.

Are there certain actions other players commit that really annoy you? What do you find truly distasteful? Do you have some of these people who annoy you in your guild? Or are you one of the offenders?

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Breakfast Topic: What do other players do that really annoys you? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> annoyancesfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionpeevespet-peevesworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Has Cataclysm let you down?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/11/breakfast-topic-has-cataclysm-let-you-down/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/11/breakfast-topic-has-cataclysm-let-you-down/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/11/breakfast-topic-has-cataclysm-let-you-down/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

After all the anticipation, all the build-up, all the hype ... Cataclysm is here. For all intents and purposes, Cataclysm has delivered on much of what was promised. However, as with all change, there is good as well as bad and things that left us without the enjoyment we thought we would have. Some still complain that offering only 5 levels isn't a full expansion; whether level cap really effects all that much other than being an arbitrary number at which max-level content is at remains to be seen. Others complain about having to find the instance portals to queue for those instances, but it does make sense that you should have to know where you are going to go there.

There are numerous moments I found epic. The Uldum quest chain with Harrison Jones was great, but at the same time, the fact I had to go back and find those couple of random quests that begin by killing animals to finish my Uldum quest achievement kind of annoyed me. Another disappointment was the length of the Vashj'ir boat phasing scene, at least for Alliance -- and after this nearly 10-minute snorefest, it bugged, did not give me credit, and I had to hearth to Stormwind and repeat the awful process. As an herbalist, the fact Azshara's Veil is only in Vashj'ir was also disappointing. These small, annoying little issues are trivial, however, and only show small flaws in an otherwise great expansion.

So what things in Cataclysm have disappointed or annoyed you -- or have you been completely pleased? Or are you in the small fraction of players yet to get Cataclysm?

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Breakfast Topic: Has Cataclysm let you down? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> disappointmentfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionlet-downworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Tue, 11 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Just how lucky are you?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/08/breakfast-topic-just-how-lucky-are-you/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/08/breakfast-topic-just-how-lucky-are-you/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/01/08/breakfast-topic-just-how-lucky-are-you/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Getting random drops always involves a bit of luck. In a PUG, not only do you need to have what you want drop, but you have to manage to win a /roll as well. In guild groups, you have to have DKP or whatever currency your guild uses for a loot system. Gear for the most part comes from time; eventually, you get the loot you need, but getting these random drops becomes far worse when farming for low drop-rate items such as pets and mounts. Baron runs, heroic MgT runs, Anzu runs, ZG trying to farm the various whelp and raptor pets ... some of us spend hours or days or weeks, and still never see it.

I have been on a pretty major achievement kick since prior to the Cataclysm launch, topping off old reps, farming pets and mounts, doing fishing achievements, all the things that take a back burner to leveling and new instances and raids. Trouble is, I have awful luck. Being a druid, I have run Anzu so many times I lost count and have never seen the mount; same with Baron, ZG and heroic MgT. No mounts from any of these places in hundreds of attempts. On the other hand, I have a guildie who has both ZG mounts, both Brewfest mounts, the Horseman's Reins, Anzu, and Rivendare's Deathcharger. He even got two of the raptor pets from ZG the same week he got the mount.

How lucky are you when it comes to farming rare drops? Have you been able to go in and get the drops in a few attempts, or have you given up in frustration, cursing the WoW gods?

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Breakfast Topic: Just how lucky are you? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 08 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionrarerare-dropsworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Sat, 08 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: When do you refuse to play WoW?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/28/breakfast-topic-when-do-you-refuse-to-play-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/28/breakfast-topic-when-do-you-refuse-to-play-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/28/breakfast-topic-when-do-you-refuse-to-play-wow/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Hopefully, people have other interests besides WoW. Many of us are nerds, whether it be movies, TV, books, or cartoons. Some people refuse to log on during their favorite TV show or miss a night to see a movie premiere or have to finish reading their favorite author's new book. These other forms of entertainment outweigh WoW in terms of importance to some people. Others just log on WoW and catch up on other media when the servers are down or they are bored with lack of new content.

I do not log on Sunday nights, mostly because I am watching Boardwalk Empire and The Walking Dead. Sure, I could record these programs and watch them later so I could maybe get in an alt run Sunday night -- but besides these being something I enjoy, I also take Sunday as a break night. One of my friends is an avid follower of a band (I don't really remember the name; they are pretty underground), and every time they have a show close by, he goes out of his way to see it. Another guildie announced that he would not raid one night because he was going to the midnight showing of the latest Harry Potter movie with his girlfriend; he claimed it was her idea, although I have my doubts.

So are there certain things you will not miss even to play WoW? Do you schedule your raiding or PvP nights around your favorite TV programs or new movies? Or do you just log on and figure you can always see whatever it is later?

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Breakfast Topic: When do you refuse to play WoW? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 28 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionhobbiespastimesworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Tue, 28 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: It was lag, I swear!]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/24/breakfast-topic-it-was-lag-i-swear/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/24/breakfast-topic-it-was-lag-i-swear/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/24/breakfast-topic-it-was-lag-i-swear/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Lag is probably the single most common excuse for mistakes in all internet gaming. From the beginning of the big craze of first person shooters to now, mistakes are chalked up to lag. The expressions change from: "Oh sorry, you didn't get a heal? I lagged real bad!" to "Oh, I had a huge lag spike!" -- even expletive-laced shouts at the lag itself, as if you could personify bad latency. This happens in PUGs, guild runs, and even just friend and family groups.

The question is how often are people actually lagging versus how often is it merely an excuse, because no one else can prove you did not lag. The truth is, it is not always lag -- but sometimes it is. I have went on expletive-laced tirades when I disconnect during a boss fight or see that horrible thing when my entire action bar is lit up with queued spells but I am not moving. However, if you actually make a mistake that is your fault, I am a big proponent of taking credit for and owning it. If you blame lag or someone else every time you make an actual mistake instead of taking ownership of your shortcomings, you never learn from them. Admitting you used an ill-timed spell, moved into the fire, or just got caught up in your rotation and had a lapse of attention allows you to learn and grow from your mistakes (and hopefully never make them again).

Do you ever use lag as an excuse when it was a personal mistake? Is it a common go-to excuse you use often? Or do you believe in admitting your mistakes and trying to get better from them?

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Breakfast Topic: It was lag, I swear! originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> excusesfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionlagworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Fri, 24 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Moments of pleasant surprise]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/12/breakfast-topic-moments-of-pleasant-surprise/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/12/breakfast-topic-moments-of-pleasant-surprise/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/12/breakfast-topic-moments-of-pleasant-surprise/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Everyone who plays WoW has horror stories. Awful PUGs, bad groups, guild drama, the time you got that item ninjaed. We often pull out these horror stories in games of one-upmanship about who has had the worst experience with friends and guildies. Or when recruiting a new member to your guild, the bad memories often outweigh the good when it comes to certain players.

However, if WoW were merely a collection of awful experiences and drama, there would not be millions of people paying 15 bucks a month to keep playing it. This is about those moments in which you were pleasantly surprised.

I have had several throughout the six years of WoW, varying from random, in-game good luck to things that resonate in real life. One of the most pleasant surprises for me was meeting an-in game friend during a dungeon, eventually joining his guild and becoming a main tank for that guild -- the guild I still raid with to this day. I also got Undying on an 8-man Naxx run the day I turned 80 on my paladin tank alt. Friends of mine met through WoW and are now married. One of my relatives went to BlizzCon only to find a coworker also there; neither of them had known the other played, and they found out they are on the same server. Even recently, a doctor of mine saw a WoW shirt I was wearing and asked what server and faction I was, then made a joke about not knowing if he could heal me since I play Alliance.

So what are your moments in which you were pleasantly surprised? What moments have made your day or left you feeling relieved and happy? Have you had the simple, in-game moments of joy that bring a smile to your face, or have you had in-game moments that affected your real life as well?

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Breakfast Topic: Moments of pleasant surprise originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 12 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionhappinesshappyserendipitysurpriseworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Sun, 12 Dec 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Will you be buying either of the new vanity pets?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/30/breakfast-topic-will-you-be-buying-either-of-the-new-vanity-pet/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/30/breakfast-topic-will-you-be-buying-either-of-the-new-vanity-pet/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/30/breakfast-topic-will-you-be-buying-either-of-the-new-vanity-pet/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Blizzard has been selling us in-game items for a while now; however, it has kept this to noncombat pets and mounts -- things that, outside of counting for totals for achievements, have little to no real effect on gameplay. Some of the items Blizzard does for self-profit, and sometimes it sells in-game pets for charity. People who buy the items get different reactions from the community; the sparkle pony especially got a lot of hate.

Personally, I have not bought any of the real-money pets, partially because I am not a collector and partially because I felt that paying for downloadable content should add something major to the game experience. However, I am considering buying the Ragnaros pet for one main reason: because Rags is my major epic memory of vanilla WoW, I always felt he was an awesome model and so imposing, and many of us went around saying "too soon" on Vent.

Have you bought any of the vanity pets? Do you buy them all as a completionist/collector? Do you pick and choose the ones you think look cool? Do you only buy the charity pets? Or do you avoid real money transactions in games altogether?

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Breakfast Topic: Will you be buying either of the new vanity pets? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> celestial-steeddownloadable-contentfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionlil-ragnaroslil-ragnaros-petmoonkin-hatchlingmoonkin-hatchling-petmountsnoncombat-petsreal-money-transactionsrmtsparkle-ponyvanity-petsworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How often do you read quest text?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/29/breakfast-topic-how-often-do-you-read-quest-text/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/29/breakfast-topic-how-often-do-you-read-quest-text/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/29/breakfast-topic-how-often-do-you-read-quest-text/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

If you have played WoW for more than five minutes, you have done a quest. It is nearly impossible to avoid doing them altogether. Since the option has been implemented to have instant quest text and the options tracked on the map by Blizzard's default UI now, most players see the exclamation mark, click on the NPC, accept the quest, and go get the items -- whether it be someone's head, 10 rocks, or going to kill a certain number of creatures -- without paying attention to the why. We want the gold, experience, achievement, or perhaps a quest reward, but we cannot be bothered with why we need to commit genocide on a population of wild animals. We would rather crit the mobs required for the quest than be crit by a wall of text.

I am as guilty of this as the next person: Oh, bring you murloc eyes ... Sure, why not? Kill a bunch of boars? Whatever. However, when I recently went back and finished off Loremaster, I found myself actually paying attention to some of the quests, and I realized there can be some great stories there. The Burning Crusade, Wrath, and soon Cataclysm have come a long way in terms of making the quests feel like they are leading somewhere, as opposed to killing these random mobs for no apparent reason. While working on Loremaster, I was like, "Wow, that was a neat little storyline in that quest chain!" It made me both impressed and a little sad, wondering about all the possible nuggets of story I had simply ignored just so I could level a couple of minutes sooner.

Do you actually read the quest text? Do you ever want to know why we have to kill the creatures we kill and why the NPCs want these seemingly inane items? Or do you just do it for the XP and money and could not care less?

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Breakfast Topic: How often do you read quest text? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionquest-linequest-textquestingquestsstorystorylineworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Mon, 29 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: WoW on the go]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/20/breakfast-topic-wow-on-the-go/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/20/breakfast-topic-wow-on-the-go/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/20/breakfast-topic-wow-on-the-go/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

All of us have a life outside of Azeroth. People always say how much more important real life is than the game. However, if we say we are going to be somewhere in the game, shouldn't we take that commitment as seriously as one in the real world? If we tell our guild or friends we will be there for a raid or to PvP, shouldn't we do our best to not let them down? Isn't telling your WoW friends that you will be somewhere and simply not showing up without any notice just as bad as if it were your real-life friends?

Since I am a tank for my guild, I pretty much have to be at almost every raid. In order to make raids when not at home, I have raided on laptops and at other people's houses, just so I don't let people down. By not always playing on my home PC, I have learned to be a minimalist with mods as well as learning what the minimum settings I can still effectively tank with. This has allowed me to maintain most of my real-life and in-game commitments.

Have you ever had to play WoW outside of your own home to fulfill your social obligations? Do you have a gaming laptop for this purpose? Have you played at a friend or relative's house on their PC? Do you have different UIs or mod setups for your PC and laptop?

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Breakfast Topic: WoW on the go originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 20 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussiongaming-on-the-roadon-the-roadsocial-obligationsworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Sat, 20 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: How do you get past bad nights?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/19/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-get-past-bad-nights/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/19/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-get-past-bad-nights/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/19/breakfast-topic-how-do-you-get-past-bad-nights/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

No matter what aspect of WoW you prefer, we all have bad nights. Your guild has an off night, wiping endlessly on farm content. You get in a drama-filled PUG and get saved to a raid that doesn't really accomplish much. Your arena team loses most of its matches. You keep getting into BGs with half the other members AFK. We rage, QQ, maybe have an alcoholic beverage, and eventually log off frustrated and unfulfilled. However, with as many subscribers as WoW has, it is clear most of us manage to put that behind us and try again.

I'm not much of a PvPer anymore; mostly, I raid now. Lately, our guild has been struggling a bit. Lots of players are taking time off until Cataclysm. Some of the replacements just aren't as good as the people they are replacing, or they are having trouble adjusting to the way our guild does fights. A couple of weeks ago, we had the worst raid night I have had since Wrath launched, wiping for about two hours on heroic Lady Deathwhisper -- a fight we usually one-shot -- and as the raid wound down, we actually set the encounter to normal just to get past it so we could clear at least through Saurfang before we called it a night. There was finger-pointing, complaining, grumbling, and general poor morale as the night wore on, and I am ashamed to admit I joined in on some of it. As the night ended and I logged off, I was just glad it was over.

So as I logged on for the next raid, I was already dreading what would become of the continuation of the previous night's antics. However, as a guild, we decided to have fun the rest of the week, bust out some achievements for those who'd missed them, and not worry about slamming our heads against heroics -- just clear the raid and make it a short week. It brought morale back up and turned things into a rewarding and relaxing raid week, and we got back on track. So how do you and your guild or friends recover from bad nights?

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Breakfast Topic: How do you get past bad nights? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedfacepalmgame-discussiongamer-discussionoff-nightoff-trackworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Guest Post: Azshara revamp ushers in new level range, epic stories]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/13/guest-post-azshara-revamp-ushers-in-new-level-range-epic-stori/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/13/guest-post-azshara-revamp-ushers-in-new-level-range-epic-stori/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/13/guest-post-azshara-revamp-ushers-in-new-level-range-epic-stori/#comments This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

I would hazard a guess that a vast majority of WoW players have never even been to Azshara. Honestly, since Molten Core is no longer a major raid zone and the Runes of Fire Lords just put themselves out, there really isn't much reason to. Those of us who raided in vanilla made weekly trips there to pick up our Aqual Quintessence, and I was also an herbalist, so I would spend another hour or so out there looking for Dreamfoil because of needing a bag full of mana pots to raid in those pre-potion sickness days.

Clearly, the zone was unfinished. There was one quest hub, if you could call it that, because there were only a very small number of quests there. Blizzard tried to bring people to the unused zone later on by adding in the level 50 class quests that led up to Sunken Temple -- but really, in the process of leveling, you could basically ignore Azshara and move on.

I hated the original Azshara because it was out in the middle of nowhere and fairly poorly designed. It was hard to get to places because of all the rocky cliffs, and passages up and down from the beach to the cliffs were too few and far between. It could even be dangerous at level 60 before The Burning Crusade's stamina inflation; lots of mobs feared and or put debuffs on you, and there were elites wandering around over huge portions of the zone.

Sadly the few fond memories I have of old Azshara are gone, as well. When Azuregos was up in vanilla, the entire zone would become a raiding guild, PvP fight zone as the top Horde and Alliance raiding guilds fought over who could tag him, killing flagged members of the group who got him, hoping to wipe them and inflict them all with the debuff. It could get fun and entertaining -- and one time, it even caused our server to be shut down.

Well, that has all changed come Cataclysm.

Continue reading Guest Post: Azshara revamp ushers in new level range, epic stories

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Guest Post: Azshara revamp ushers in new level range, epic stories originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> azsharaazuregosbilgewater-harborblue-dragonflightcataclysmgoblinkalecgosredesignrevampthalassianzone-impressionszones (Josh Rose) Sat, 13 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Have your guildies inspired you in real life?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/12/breakfast-topic-have-your-guildies-inspired-you-in-real-life/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/12/breakfast-topic-have-your-guildies-inspired-you-in-real-life/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/12/breakfast-topic-have-your-guildies-inspired-you-in-real-life/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

We all have people in our guilds who are better at WoW than we are. They have amazing reaction times, are great leaders, or put up amazing numbers on the damage or healing meters. But often we know little about the person behind the keyboard. Since my guild is full of mostly adults, we talk a lot about real life in guild chat and on our guild forums. Some of the stuff is merely about TV shows we are watching or books we are reading; seriously, we have a 15-page forum about MMA from all the UFC fans in our guild.

Occasionally, however, truly major life events are discussed, some of which are sad and some are inspiring. We have used the forums to say goodbye to a few members for reasons ranging from personal tragedy, to moving and changing jobs, to simply getting tired of the game.

Some of the stories inspired me to make changes in my own life. One of our guild members talked about his diet and how through exercise and cutting out some fast food, he has lost nearly 60 pounds. This caused me to start watching how much I was snacking during raids and got me back to the gym. Another guild member went back to college for his master's degree, and this led me to look into what it would cost for me to go back and get my culinary degree. Two of our guild members got engaged, and this led me to realize I had better start thinking about ring shopping before my girlfriend gets fed up with me.

Do you ever discuss important real-life events with members of your guild? Have any of their stories made you examine your own life? Have any of their advice or personal insights inspired you to make changes or tough choices in your life?

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Breakfast Topic: Have your guildies inspired you in real life? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionguildmateguildmatesguildsreal-lifereal-worldworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Would you pay for extras in a F2P WoW?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/11/breakfast-topic-would-you-pay-for-extras-in-a-f2p-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/11/breakfast-topic-would-you-pay-for-extras-in-a-f2p-wow/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/11/breakfast-topic-would-you-pay-for-extras-in-a-f2p-wow/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Lord of the Rings Online went free-to-play. "Free" is a questionable term, since they charge you for a fee for features you can technically live without but are still fairly important; things such as the gold cap, the ability to gain rested XP, and certain instances and PvP options require a fee. You get an enhanced version slightly above a trial, but you are still limited in what you can do in the free-to-play version of the game.

While playing a game, I want to play the whole game, have the entire experience, and not feel as if I have been shortchanged by being on a limited version. Personally having purchased some of the Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age DLC, I would still have to pay for the added functionality. Not being able to fully advance my character and see large amounts of content would irritate me more than the cost would. Not being allowed to make use of content would make me feel like I was missing out.

I want the choice of whether or not I do this instance, raid, or battleground. Could you imagine attempting to zone into Icecrown Citadel and seeing a message that says, "Requires a V.I.P. membership"? WoW has sold us a few items for extra money that are not required, but not having a Lil' XT or a sparkle pony doesn't affect your game functionality.

LOTRO offers things like more bag spaces and removing the gold cap and even priority login for those with V.I.P. accounts. So if World of Warcraft decided to follow the LOTRO model and go semi-free-to-play, would you just play the free portion? Would you pay for the V.I.P. portion? Would you buy the other nickel and dime upgrades they have on top of that? Or would you quit WoW altogether, feeling as if Blizzard had shortchanged players by making us pay for things like bag space, PvP and raid availability?

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Breakfast Topic: Would you pay for extras in a F2P WoW? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> celestial-steedf2pfacebookfeedfree-to-playgame-discussiongamer-discussionlil-xtlord-of-the-rings-onlinelotroreal-money-transactionsrmtsparkle-ponyworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Which Cataclysm zone are you most excited about?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/08/breakfast-topic-which-cataclysm-zone-are-you-most-excited-about/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/08/breakfast-topic-which-cataclysm-zone-are-you-most-excited-about/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/08/breakfast-topic-which-cataclysm-zone-are-you-most-excited-about/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

All of us are anxiously awaiting Cataclysm's going live. Wrath is winding down and people are anxiously anticipating the new content. Some want new raids, some want new dungeons, some want new quests, some want to make goblins or worgen. Some of us are just really excited to see the changes to the old zones, and some just want to get right into the level 80 to 85 content.

I myself am in the beta. I have played it as it has evolved since the friends and family alpha, and I have watched some of the zones go from buggy and near unplayable, with quests not yet implemented, to being far more fleshed-out and nearly ready to go live. I love Hyjal. It has an epic feel; you are right in there battling to reclaim the zone from the Twilight Cultists and the elementals. Deepholm is equally amazing. In the revamped zones, I thoroughly enjoyed the CSI-inspired murder quest chain in Westfall. I have made both a goblin and a worgen and must say, the goblin starting area and Azshara should not be missed. Everyone should make a Horde character and complete the Azuregos and Kalecgos quests in Azshara. On the other hand, I feel Gilneas is a little overscripted and Darkshore is still a little odd.

There is a lot of the world I want to see when Cataclysm launches, but there are places I want to see more than others. Where are you most interested in exploring when Cataclysm comes out? What do you absolutely have to see, and what quests do you want to do? What particular zone excites you the most? Or are you just in it for new dungeons, raids and new shiny epics?

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Breakfast Topic: Which Cataclysm zone are you most excited about? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> azsharadarkshoredeepholmfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussiongilneashyjaluldumwestfallworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Mon, 08 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Share your ragequit moments]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/28/breakfast-topic-share-your-ragequit-moments/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/28/breakfast-topic-share-your-ragequit-moments/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/28/breakfast-topic-share-your-ragequit-moments/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Online gaming allows people the anonymity to be jerks if they want to and not face many actual consequences, whether it is trolling, ninjaing a piece of loot, rage-quitting a group because of a single wipe, or getting into a shouting match over Vent. Sometimes we carry real-life events in game with us. We have a bad day at work or break up with a girlfriend or worse, and we are unable to suffer noobs lightly. Sometimes we're rude, telling the guy doing terrible DPS he is bad and removing him from the group, as opposed to trying to help him; sometimes it is far worse.

Back in The Burning Crusade, I was in a raiding guild I particularly liked. Good progression, mostly decent people, raid times that fit my schedule well at the time -- I thought all was good. However, there was on officer who I just did not get along with. So one Saturday, she was forming a ZG raid and asked me if I wanted to go. I said no, I was dealing with something in real life and was about to log. I didn't go into details, but we had a death in the family, and I just wasn't able to really concentrate on tanking at the time. I logged off.

So a couple of hours later, I logged back on an alt and noticed they were still in ZG, so I asked what's up and how many chests they got. The officer went on a rant, just berating me endlessly, taking out their bad raid on me. I gquit on the spot -- all of my characters. Other officers talked to me later and asked me what happened, and I told them ... but I just could not go back after that.

While I am currently in a guild that suits me better, I still wish I had left the previous guild on better terms. So have you done anything in a fit of rage you truly regret, something you actually felt guilty about afterwards?

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Breakfast Topic: Share your ragequit moments originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> angerangryfacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionguildquitnerdragequitrageragequitworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: What's your most memorable moment of amazement?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/21/breakfast-topic-whats-your-most-memorable-moment-of-amazement/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/21/breakfast-topic-whats-your-most-memorable-moment-of-amazement/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/21/breakfast-topic-whats-your-most-memorable-moment-of-amazement/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Many of us get jaded playing WoW. We get burned out running the same raid for months on end as we wait for new content. We feel there is no reason to do instances anymore because there is nothing more to be gained -- or with the new expansion on the horizon, we think, "Why bother? I'll replace the gear with quest blues and greens leveling to 85." We spend a lot of time QQing about how there is nothing we need to do or want to do, or how we are bored with the current aspect of the game.

However, we have all had our Oh wow, that was awesome! moments -- those moments that bring us back to why we play this game and why we pay 15 bucks a month to keep doing so. I have had my fair share, usually a couple in each of the iterations of the evolving world that is WoW. The first one had to be Ragnaros. At level 60, getting to Ragnaros and watching him just erupt out of the lava pool all gigantic and epic-looking ... He is still one of the most impressive-looking bosses with one of the best deaths in the game; it is kind of a shame you can kill him with just one or two people now.

The Burning Crusade's high point to me was Mount Hyjal. I loved the Caverns of Time. I felt it was a great gaming invention to allow you to experience content from the old RTS Warcraft games in a WoW manner; being a part of it was a great idea. Also, Archimonde was a seriously great fight. Wrath has had a couple of memorable moments for me. Ulduar was a huge high point. Yogg+1 or +0 was such a truly difficult and exciting fight. And finally getting to fight Arthas -- that was a very well-designed fight, even in normal mode without the buff when it was actually difficult.

What moments in World of Warcraft have left you amazed? All the bugs, server downtimes and trolls be damned -- this made up for all of it. What instant made WoW all worth it for you?

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Breakfast Topic: What's your most memorable moment of amazement? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 21 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> amazingawesomefacebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Thu, 21 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Do you use WoW to keep in touch?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/28/breakfast-topic-do-you-use-wow-to-keep-in-touch/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/28/breakfast-topic-do-you-use-wow-to-keep-in-touch/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/28/breakfast-topic-do-you-use-wow-to-keep-in-touch/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Most of us have friends and family we don't get to see very often due to time constraints or distance. Keeping in contact can be hard with life getting in the way at times. My family though happens to be a WoW family. My mother, father and sister and her husband, aunt and two of my cousins all have WoW accounts. We each have characters on the same realm and get in touch with each other through the game.

Many people look at WoW as a nerdy diversion or just a game, but for me, it has allowed me to stay in contact with friends and family I would not otherwise get in touch with nearly as often. My aunt lives on the other side of the state, about two and a half hours away; my cousin is in the Air Force stationed in Europe. We use email, phone calls and occasional visits, but WoW is how we primarily contact each other. I hop on my tank, my cousin has his rogue, and my aunt plays her mage, and we run instances or quest together or occasionally level alts all while catching up. We have actually ran randoms with five different family members talking and joking over Vent, catching up on current events in each others' lives.

Do you have family who plays also? Do you use it as a way to keep in touch with them? If so, is it just joking, or do you pass real important news back and forth over the game?

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Breakfast Topic: Do you use WoW to keep in touch? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Do you own any WoW peripherals?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/24/breakfast-topic-do-you-own-any-wow-peripherals/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/24/breakfast-topic-do-you-own-any-wow-peripherals/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/24/breakfast-topic-do-you-own-any-wow-peripherals/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

One of my friends struck it rich at a really young age. He grew up fairly poor and suddenly came into a large amount of money, and he now spends it on infinite amounts of frivolous items. He actually owns a Slap Chop, George Foreman Grill and some ShamWoWs. He also buys many of the WoW peripherals. Not only did he buy the sparkle pony and about every pet that WoW has put out, he also buys the actual gaming items. He has the Tap Chat, the wireless WoW headset, even the Wrath keyboard and Blizzard MMO gaming mouse.

Personally, the only peripheral I've bought from Blizzard is an authenticator, which netted me the cute little core hound pet. However, the sense of security that my seven 80s won't be cleaned out while my account is used to spam trade for some gold selling site is the real reason I picked it up. I have a Logitech mouse and headset -- nothing super fancy, but they work just fine for me, and I paid less than one piece's worth of the Blizzard direct WoW paraphernalia. My girlfriend was going to buy me the WoW headset for my birthday, but I told her to save her money and get me a game card, as opposed to dropping over $100 on a headset. I told her if I were going to spend that kind of money on something for my computer, it would be to update pieces of the hardware, like a better graphics card or a new processor.

In the end, the decision whether or not to buy something comes down to the consumer, so I leave it to you, the WoW gaming public: Do you own any of the gaming peripherals for WoW? If so, do they actually help make you a better player? If you feel they actually aid your gaming experience, can you provide some examples or testimonials as to why?

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Breakfast Topic: Do you own any WoW peripherals? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionhardwareworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Fri, 24 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Are you catching up on out-of-game activities?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/08/breakfast-topic-are-you-catching-up-on-out-of-game-activities/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/08/breakfast-topic-are-you-catching-up-on-out-of-game-activities/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/08/breakfast-topic-are-you-catching-up-on-out-of-game-activities/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com.

Before the maddening world changes of Cataclysm hit and we follow the shark with freakin' laser beams down to level our toons to 85, we are left with the question of what to do for the next few months. As with both previous expansions, it becomes sort of a waiting game for new content. The apathy of "why bother?" hits, and logging on becomes less and less frequent -- logging on just to check the AH, or for a guild raid, or to do dailies, and quickly off again, waiting with anticipation for when you can fly in the old world.

Some of us are hardcore gamers, but like many WoW players who get engrossed in our game of choice, we may have missed some of the other stellar video games that came out this year. Are you catching up on these titles while you wait for the next nugget of WoW content to come out? Or are you a TV and movie viewer, catching up on shows? Or are you catching up on real-life stuff you missed while in game, like spending time with friends and family and getting caught up with work, so you can take those couple of days off when Cataclysm actually launches?

Personally, I found that I fit into multiple categories here, spending time with my girlfriend, gaining relationship points for the inevitable amount I am going to tick her off when Cataclysm launches. I have also been playing some games I missed in the meantime, such as Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age Awakenings -- well, not so much missed, but saw their shortcuts glaring at me, waiting on me to play them, while I logged in to WoW instead.

So where do you fit? Where are your spare hours going, since you aren't in Azeroth as much? Or are you in game just as much as you always were?

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Breakfast Topic: Are you catching up on out-of-game activities? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamer-discussionworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider <![CDATA[Breakfast Topic: Are you a closet nerd or a flag-waving nerd?]]> http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/01/breakfast-topic-are-you-a-closet-nerd-or-a-flag-waving-nerd/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/01/breakfast-topic-are-you-a-closet-nerd-or-a-flag-waving-nerd/ http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/01/breakfast-topic-are-you-a-closet-nerd-or-a-flag-waving-nerd/#comments This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com.

We all know about the idea of the overweight, basement-dwelling virgin, the idea that gamers and comic book nerds all look like the comic book guy from The Simpsons. Many of us know that is not the case. You even see people in trade chat calling each other "nerds" and "virgins," although the inevitable response of calling someone else a nerd in WoW is laughable. In my guild alone, we have a lawyer, an author and a chef, along with many happily married people with children. Some are openly proud of their nerdiness; some try to argue they aren't nerds over Vent.

My girlfriend hides her geek from a lot of her friends. She watches anime, is a gamer and even dresses up for our local comic book convention, but many of her friends and work associates have no idea about this side of her. Me, on the other hand -- I let the geek flag fly. I wear my gamer T-shirts. I talk openly about WoW and other games with my friends. I still complain about the fact Firefly never got a second season.

Continue reading Breakfast Topic: Are you a closet nerd or a flag-waving nerd?

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Breakfast Topic: Are you a closet nerd or a flag-waving nerd? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]> facebookfeedgame-discussiongamergamer-discussiongamersgeekgeekynerdworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topics (Josh Rose) Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST WoW Insider